Refuse compacting vehicle body



Sept. 21, 1965 E. R. BOECK ETAL REFUSE COMPACTING VEHICLE BODY Original Filed May 11, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 u 0 5 & N MK M C 4 mm mm mw W 1 5 \m R. mN/ M m E R H m w w mw \m mm mm i w w w |i L g E H :mfi/J E N: w\\ j m z vfil m\\ E 03 \N\ 9% 9? mm om: I Ti -"Uh" l H IHI A \w Nw kw 5 ON MN MW Q Q N9 ROBERT J WALTER %W 6 BY ATTORNEYS Sept. 21, 1965 E. R. BOECK ETAL 3,207,550

REFUSE COMPACTING VEHICLE BODY Original Filed May 11, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I02 /04 33 I04 102 56' Z /0.3 .99 .96 96 .99 iii INVENTORJ ELLSWORTH R.BOECK 8c ROBERTJ. WALTER BY ATTORNEYS.

Sept. 21, 1965 E. R. BOECK ETAL REFUSE COMPACTING VEHICLE BODY Original Filed May 11, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTORS ELLSWORTH R. BOECK 6: ROBERT J. WALTER 1-6aww AT ORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,207,550 REFUSE COMPACTING VEHICLE BODY Ellsworth R. Boeck, Buffalo, and Robert J. Walter, Kenmore, N.Y., assignors to Truck Equipment (10., Inc., Butfalo, N.Y.

Original application May 11, 1960, Ser. No. 28,339, now Patent No. 3,148,786, dated Sept. 15, 1964. Divided and this application Dec. 27, 1963, Ser. No. 340,842

Claims. (Cl. 296101) This invention relates to refuse collection vehicles and particularly to improvements in refuse collection vehicle bodies of the so-called packer type. This application is a division of our copending application, Serial No. 28,339, filed May 11, 1960, and now Patent No. 3,148,786.

Packer bodies or compaction bodies for refuse collecting and transporting vehicles are in general use in the refuse collection field and one form of packer body has side doors near the front of the body for introducing refuse and a packer plate which moves rearwardly within the body to compact refuse toward the rear of the body. The refuse is emptied from the body by opening a rear door and ejecting the refuse by further operation of the rearwardly movable packer plate.

The refuse packer body of the present invention is of the foregoing general type and presents a number of important improvements in construction and operation of such apparatus. In the form shown herein by way of example the packer body comprises generally a hollow cylinder and the construction and arrangement of the body itself and the packer plate mounting and moving means is such as to provide maximum strength, relative freedom from distortion due to loading and packing forces, and all-around efficiency and economy in the design of the body per se and the various operating components, mainly the packer plate and its operating means and the cooperating rear door employed in ultimately ejecting the contents of the body.

Since large side door openings are desirable at both sides of the forward portion of the cylindrical packer body, the portions of the body forwardly of and rearwardly of the side doors are almost completely separated by the door openings and accordingly a particular problem in maintaining accurate shape and alignment of the body as a whole is presented.

This problem is very substantially aggravated by the fact that in a desirable arrangement of the apparatus the drive means for the packer plate is carried by the forward portion of the body while the packer plate itself operates principally in the rear portion of the body and accordingly the reaction forces tend markedly to distort the shape and the relative alignment of the forward and rear body parts.

The body design of the packer body of the present invention and the manner in which the packing forces are absorbed thereby is a very substantial improvement over packer body arrangements of the prior art. The cylindrical body includes a novel skeletal structural arrangement which absorbs the major stresses and reaction forces incident to the packing operation independently of the body shell itself and in such a way that these forces are transmitted substantially directly to the frame of the vehicle which carries the body.

In addition to the novel structural and physical arrangement of the packer body and the reciprocating packer plate, the present invention provides novel hydraulic operation of the packer plate and the unloading or ejecting door at the rear of the body and provides a novel operating and control arrangement for these instrumentalities.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel body construction and a novel relationship of the fixed structural members thereof whereby the very considerable forces engendered by the compacting operation are borne and distributed in a manner which avoids undue distortion of the body shell. As will appear later herein, independent structural elements are provided whereby the compacting pressure of the packer plate and more particularly the reaction force of the hydraulic power device which motivates the packer plate, are transmitted to the frame of the vehicle which carries the body more or less directly and with-out subjecting the body shell itself to harmful stresses which would otherwise tend to distort the same to a degree which might actually interfere with proper reciprocation of the packer plate.

This question of body distortion, particularly in the case of a cylindrical packer body is rendered acute by reason of the fact that the side doors at opposite sides of the body extend from the top of the body down to the chassis which supports the same so that apart from the novel skeletal structure referred to earlier herein the body is virtually divided into two portions, one lying forwardly of the side door structure and the other rearwardly thereof, and it is necessary in the normal operation that the packer plate pass from one of these portions to the other during compacting and return movements.

A further improvement of the packer body of the present invention resides in an arrangement whereby the packer plate may be moved rearwardly and projected to a position beyond the confines of the packer body proper with the rear door in an open position whereby the entire interior of the body may be cleaned and resultant debris may be swept out of the rear end thereof with the packer plate in its rearmost position beyond the body proper.

Various other objects and advantages of the refuse packer body construction and arrangement of the present invention will appear to those skilled in this art from a study of the exemplary embodiment depicted in the accompanying drawings and are referred to in the ensuing description. 1

A single embodiment of the principles of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in detail in the following specification but it is to be understood that such embodiment is by way of example and illustration only and that the principles of the invention are not limited to this embodiment nor otherwise than as defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a general side elevational view of one form of the refuse packer body of the present invention with portions thereof broken away for added illustration;

FIG. 2 is a transverse cross-sectional view on the line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary transverse cross-sectional view on the line III-III of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary transverse cross-sectional view taken approximately on the line IVIV of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken approximately on the line V-V of FIG. 3.

Like characters of reference denote like parts throughout the several figures of the drawings. In the refuse packer body which is illustrated herein to exemplify the principles of the present invention a main body or shell structure is designated generally by the numeral 20 and comprises a plurality of arcuately formed metal sheets or plate-s 21 which are welded or otherwise secured to various connecting and reinforcing rings which are of angle iron cross-section and are designated, from front to rear of the body in FIG. 1, by the numerals 22 through 28. A relatively heavy ring member 29 is welded to the rear end of the body shell to form a seat for a rear door component designated generally in FIG. 1 by the numeral 30.

A track 31 in the form of an I-beam is attached to the interior wall at the top of body structure 20 to give guiding support to the upper portion of a longitudinally movable packer plate designated generally by the numeral 32 and track 31 extends rearwardly beyond body into the generally convexrear door as indicated in FIG. 1. An external reinforcing member 33 of T-shape in cross- ;section in the present instance, extends along the top of body structure 20, principally for additional reinforcement of the forward portion of the body structure and incidentally to provide a trackway for side door structure which will be described later herein. Member 33 is welded to the upper surface of track 31 to be substantially integral therewith.

It will be noted by reference to FIG. 2 that a pair of longitudinally extending half round members 34 at the interior of the body structure provide rails or trackways for lower rollers 35 provided at the base of packer plate 32 and a pair of external longitudinal angle members 36 provide ledges which seat upon the longitudinal rail or channel members 37 of a conventional motor truck chassis upon which the packer body of the present invention is mounted. If desired, vertical side plates may be welded across the outer surfaces of the angle members 36 and frame channel members 37 to fix these members permanently to each other.

plate 32 includes an-upper central longitudinal channel member and a pair of lower longitudinal channel members 46.

A pair of longitudinally spaced flanged rollers 48 mounted within channel member 45 engage along track 31 and longitudinally spaced rollers rotatably mounted within the lower channel members 46 have previously been designated 35. Rollers 35 have their peripheries concaved to track along the half round member 34. It will be noted that the lower portion of the rear wall of packer plate 32 has an outwardly flaring wall portion 50 which exerts a material raising component of force on the refuse as the packer plate moves rearwardly and this force cooperates with the particular contour of the rear door 30, as will appear later herein.

A relatively wide channel member 51 extends obliquely from the forward portion of upper channel member 45 to a generally central portion of the packer plate structure generally to stiffen the structure. The lower end of the channel member 51 cooperates in forming an enclosure 53 which includes bearing means 54 for pivotal engagement with the small end of a series of telescoping piston and cylinder members designated generally and collectively by the numeral 55.

Both plate members 41 and 42 of the packer plate are perforated as indicated at 52 in FIG. 2 so that air is readily released from the refuse as it is being compacted.

It will be noted from FIG. 1 that the upper track 31 and lower half round tracks 34 extend rearwardly beyond the body shell 20 and into the convex rear door 30 to permit the packer plate to be moved rearwardly until its rear portion projects beyond the body shell to facilitate cleaning the interior of the latter.

The rear door 30 has side wall portions 56 which comprise cylindrical continuations of the body shell 20 and a rear wall 57 which is curved outwardly as viewed in side elevation of FIG. 1. The rear wall 57 does not require compound curvature but merely comprises a flat plate bent to the contour shown in FIG. 1. However, its intersection with the rearwardly extending cylindrical wall portions 56 give the door a generally convex exterior surface.

This contour of rear door 30 cooperates with the flaring lower wall portion 50 of the packer plate 32 so that rearward movement of the packer plate with the door closed tends to feed the refuse upwardly whereby the packed refuse fills the interior of the body more efficiently than if this upward camming action on the refuse did not take place.

The usual packing action in conventional compaction bodies of the prior art results in a much greater refuse density toward the bottom of the load and the foregoing cooperation between the respective facing contours of the packer plate and the interior of the rear door does much to ameliorate this tendency and thereby increase the pay load of the body.

The body shell 20 and rear door 30 have cooperating hinge forming parts designated 60 and 61 respectively which are pivoted as at 62 in FIG. 1 for door opening and closing movements. The door 30 naturally gravitates toward a closed position and is opened by a pair of oppositely disposed hydraulic cylinders 63 which are pivoted at one end of each to opposite sides of the body shell 20 as at 64 and have slotted members 65 at the outer ends of their piston rods which engage pins 66 projecting from opposite sides of the door 30. Control of the operation of the door raising cylinders 63 will be described later herein in conjunction with related operation of the hydraulic components.

The means for latching the lower portion of door 30 in closed position will now be described. Since this latching means bears the full force of the compacting pressure of packer plate 32 it is obvious that secure and rigid latching must be assured. C-shaped latching members 70 are pivoted to the rear portion of body shell 20 at opposite sides thereof as at 71 and the opposite ends of the latching members 70 are provided with rollers 72 which are adapted to engage over a radial flange 74 which extends about door 30 and thus clamp door flange 74 to the ring member 29 atthe rear of body shell 20. The seating surface for rollers 72 on flange 74 may be inclined or curved so that the rollers cam or wedge the flange 74 against ring member 29 during latching operation.

Means are provided for controlling the condition of the latch members 70 from a position substantially forwardly of the rear of the body for reasons of general convenience and more especially since unloading operations frequently take place with the rear of the body extending over the edge of a pit or other declivity. In the illustrated instance a longitudinal control rod 77 at one side of the body controls the condition of both clamp members 70, as will now appear.

The forward end of control rod 77 is provided with a rack formation 78 and is guided for longitudinal movement in mesh with a pinion (not shown) which is coaxial with and carried by a handwheel 79. Thus rotation of the handwheel 79 moves the control rod 77 selectively forwardly and rearwardly. A removable locking pin may be provided for preventing operation of the handwheel 79 or longitudinal movement of control rod 77 when the latch members 70 are in latching position, excepting by deliberate removal or release of the locking pin.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 4, particularly the latter, a pair or rock shafts 80 and 81 extend obliquely beneath body 20 and are supported by bearing brackets 82, 83 and 84 mounted at the under side of body 20. The inner adjacent ends of the rock shafts 80 and 81 are provided with fixed offset bearing brackets 86 and the end portions of a bent shaft member 87 are disposed rotatably in the bearing brackets 86. Thus the rock shafts 80 and 81 are connected for joint rotation and the outer end of rock shaft 80 is provided with a rock arm 90, the outer end of which is pivotally connected to the rear-end of control rod 77.

The rock shafts 80 and 81 are provided with rock arms 91 and links 92 are pivoted at their opposite ends to the outer ends of the rock arms 91 and to projecting lugs 93 on each of the C-shaped latching members 70. From the above it willvbe seen that rotation of handwheel 79 in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1 will move control rod 77 rearwardly and thus rotate the rock shafts 80 and 81 in a clockwise direction and swing the latching members ,70 clockwisely to open positions.

It will further be noted that the nature of the C-shaped latching members is such that, when closed, the ring 29 of the body 20 and the flange 74 of the rear door 30 are clamped directly between the ends of the latching members 70 themselves and that all rearward forces tending to open the door 30 are absorbed directy by the latching members 70 and are not transmitted to the foregoing control linkage. Furthermore, in closed position the rock arms 91 and links 92 move at least to and preferably slightly past dead center position so that any tendency of the latching members 70 to move toward open position inadvertently is prevented.

The compacting forces tending to distort the door 30 are very substantial and to further guard against distortion thereof, dowel means are preferably provided. While FIG. 4 is a cross section of body member 20 looking forward, the ring 29 at the rear of body 20 is shown in dot and dash lines and three dowel openings therein are indicated in dot and dash lines at 94. Three dowels carried by flange 74 of rear door 30 enter the openings 94 when door 30 is closed.

Reference will now be had to the side doors which are provided for introducing the refuse material and in this connection it will be noted that the side door openings at opposite sides of the body shell 20 are located near the forward end thereof between the angle iron reinforcing rings 23 and 24 which encircle the body shell. The base flanges of the rings 23 and 24 extend toward each other and provide ledges or seats for the door members.

The side door openings extend from the top center of body shell 20 down each side thereof to a pair of longitudinal angle members 95 which are welded to the interior of the body shell as clearly shown in FIG. 2 and preferably extend the full length of the body shell to assist in reinforcing and stiffening the same. The members 95 define the bottom edges of the side door openings and serve as door sill members.

The door openings are each adapted to be closed by upper door members designated generally by the numeral 96 and lower door members designated generally by the numeral 98. In the illustrated embodiment each upper door 96 comprises a rectangular frame 99 of tubular members arched as viewed in FIG. 2 to conform generally to the curvature of the body shell, and a plate member 100 welded to the frame 99 as shown in FIG. 2.

In closed position each upper door 96 rests substantially between the outstanding flanges of the rings 23 and 24, particulary as to the lower portions thereof, as shown at the left hand side of FIG. 2. The upper doors are thus protected against becoming dislodged by engagement with obstructions alongside the vehicle as the latter moves along. Along its upper edge each door 96 is welded to an inverted channel 102 which engages over rollers 103 carried by the web portion of T-shaped member 33 and further on rollers 104 along member 33 retain the channels 102 in tracking engagement with the rollers 103.

The rolling connection thus provided is such as to permit limited pivotal movement of the door between the rollers 103 and 104 about a horizontal axis so that the lower portion thereof may be moved outwardly as shown at the right-hand side of FIG. 2, whereupon the door may be moved freely along the body in a rearward direction to entirely expose the upper portion of the door opening. A roller 106 mounted against the body shell 20 just rearwardly of the door opening supports the lower portion of the door for free horizontal rolling opening and closing movements.

The lower door members 98 are arranged to open by arcuate downward movement and means are provided for opening the lower doors to selectively variable degrees whereby the effective lower edge of the door opening may be chosen to suit various conditions such as curb height, the size and type of receptacles or articles to be introduced, and various other working conditions.

Each lower door 98 comprises a pair of arcuate panel portions 110 and 111 hinged to each other as shown at 112 in FIG. 1. The upper portion 110 of each door 98 has a tubular formation 113 along its upper edge and the lower portion 111 has a tubular formation 114 along its lower edge. These lower door portions are guided for arcuate movement along the surface of body 20 by flange members 115 welded to the outer edges of the angle rings 23 and 24 to form facing guide channels.

As each lower door 98 moves downwardly toward its lowermost position the lower portion 111 thereof swings downwardly between the lower ends of the guide flange members 115 and the longitudinal angle members 36 which support the body 20 on the channel members 37 of the truck chassis. Thus full opening movement is accomplished without interfering with the rigidity and integrity of the body and chassis supporting and connecting structure.

Similar latching devices may be employed for both the upper and lower doors 96 and 98. Referring to FIG. 1, manual operating members are pivoted centrally to the doors 96 and 98 and oppositely extending latch bars 121 pivoted thereto extend through the side framing portions of the doors and into registering perforations in the rings 23 and 24. As shown at 122 in FIG. 2, a plurality of spaced perforations 122 are provided for lower door 98 to permit the aforementioned adjustable opening thereof. Coil springs 124 bias the bars 121 and the operating members 120 to latching positions illustrated in FIG. 1.

Adjustable platform or step devices are provided at opposite sides of the body for use in emptying material into the body and the platforms thereof are positionally adjustable for cooperation with the varying degrees of lower side door opening. Furthermore, the arrangement of these platform devices is such that they move outwardly as they are adjusted upwardly, so that the step position is conveniently located with respect to the wall of the body for various degrees of lower door opening and related platform or step position.

Referring to FIG. 2, one of the platform or step devices is illustrated at the lower left-hand side thereof, but it is to be understood that the step construction is duplicated at the other side of the body and is omitted in FIG. 2 merely for ease of illustration. A platform or step member is designated and the opposite ends thereof are coaxially pivoted to the lower ends of a pair of arms 131 as at 132, the upper ends of the arms 131 being pivoted as at 133 to brackets 134 attached to body 20 at opposite sides of each side door opening.

Brackets 136 extend upwardly from each end of platform 130 and links 137 are pivoted at their opposite ends to brackets 134 and 136 to form a parallelogram linkage whereby the platform 130 is mounted for swinging movement, while maintaining a horizontal position, from the lowered position shown in dot and dash lines in FIG. 2 to a first raised position shown in full lines and to further raised positions as desired or required.

A releasable locking pin 140 extends through the end of platform 130 and into any one of a series of arcuately arranged perforations 141 in arm 131 for securing the platform in its dot and dash line position of non-use or any of its various positions of use, the lowermost of the latter being illustrated in FIG. 2.

It will be noted by reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 that a pair of sawtooth plate members 145 are attached substantially medially to opposite sides of the interior of the body 20 to project obliquely upwardly and inwardly, the packer plate 32 being slotted as shown in FIG. 2 to clear the same. These plate members are provided to assist in preventing fall back of the packed contents of the body as the packer plate withdraws therefrom, particularly when the body reaches a condition where it is fairly well filled.

Reference will now be had to the power operation portion of the apparatus, particularly the power means for 7 operating the packer plate in opposite directions and, incidentally, to the control of the power cylinder 63 which raises the rear door. In this connection reference will be had principally to FIG. 3. A noted that an outboard bracket w-eldment 146 extends forwardly from the upper portion of body 20 and is welded and connected in such manner as to comprise substantially a rigid forward continuation of track 31 and T- shaped member 33.

The telescoping hydraulic piston and cylinder component previously identified generally by the numeral 55 is pivoted to bracket 146 as at 147 in FIG. 1. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, a solid rigid bar 150 is welded between the longitudinal angle members 36 and to the insides of the bottom flanges thereofand is thus virtually connected directly to the chassis of the vehicle independently of the body structure generally. A pair of obliquely extending laterally spaced bars 151 are welded to the bar 150 at their lower ends and to the outboard bracket 146 at their upper ends and thus transmit the reaction forces of telescoping piston and cylinder assembly 55 directly to the vehicle frame with a minimum of strain or distortion of the body structure.

Gusset plates 152 and 153 reinforce the connection of oblique bars 151 with horizontal bar 150 as shown in FIG. 3. The front end of body 20 is generally open excepting for a front wall member 154 which extends upwardly to the level of the side door sill forming angle members 95. A pair of vertical angle members 155 stiffen the front end of body 20 and cooperate with bars 151 to form a truss-like front end reinforcement.

As indicated earlier herein, the telescoping piston assembly 55 is of the single acting hydraulic type and is employed only to move packer plate 32 rearwardly in a packing direction by expansion of the multiple piston and cylinder assembly. A relatively small, lower powered, quick acting hydraulic cylinder shown at 160 in FIG.-3 is employed to effect quick return movement of the packer plate 32 to an extreme substantially at the forward edges of the side door openings.

A pump for activating both power cylinder mecharnisms 55 and 160 and also the rear door cylinders 63 is incorporated in the motor vehicle power plant as is conventional for various purposes, the pump being driven by a power take-off from the vehicle engine. Accordingly, the hydraulic pressure supply pump is not shown. This pump is connectible and disconnectible at will with respect to the power source from the cab of the truck, as is well known. In FIG. 3 the hydraulic pressure line from the aforesaid pump is designated 162 and the fluid return line to the inlet side of the pump is designated 163.

In FIG. 3 the numeral 165 designates a fiuid reservoir which discharges to the intake side of the pump through conduit 163 and the numeral 166 designates a'conventional four-way valve which is normally biased internally by spring means to a neutral position and which is shiftable manually from neutral to either of two operating positions by vertical movement of a shifting bar 167 which in the present instance is controlled by a pivoted link 168. Valves of this type are available commercially and the internal structure need not be described. For purposes of making a full disclosure it may be noted that one valve suitable for present purposes is sold by Commercial Shearing 8: Stamping Co. as No. UBO7-B22-D- 2l-Z1.

As in the case of the telescopic cylinder 55, the hydraulic return cylinder 160 is likewise single acting and is adapted to return the packer plate 32 to its forward limit position upon application of hydraulic pressure through a conduit 170 by downward movement of a piston rod 171.

The construction and operation of the quick return cylinder transmission means is as follows, reference be- :ing had to FIGS. 3 and 5. A block 175 is fixed to cylin- However, it will'first be forward position where it lies der and a block 176'is fixed to the lower end of piston rod171 and each of these blocks carries three idler pulleys oriented as shown in FIG. 5 wherein the direction to the right is the direction toward the rear of the packer body. The three pulleys mounted on upper fixed block are designated 178, 179 and 180 and the three pulleys mounted on the lower vertically reciprocable block 176 are designated 181,182 and 183.

A chain or cable is fixed at one end to a bracket 186 carried by the fixed block 175 of cylinder 160 and thence passes downwardly about pulley 181, upwardly over pulley 178, downwardly about pulley 182, upwardly over pulley 179, downwardly about pulley 183, then over pulley 180 and rearwardly to connection with the wall of'packer plate 32. The differential pulley action thus provided results in quick withdrawal of packer plate from its most rearward'position to its forward withdrawn position. This movement of course forcibly discharges hydraulic fluid from'telescopic cylinder assembly 55 to reservoir 165 in a manner which will presently appear.

A bypass valve assembly designated generally by the numeral 190 is mounted upon reservoir 165 and comprises upper and lowerchambers 191 and 192 normally closed with respect to each other by a gravity seated ball valve 193. Lower chamber '192 leads directly downwardly to reservoir 165; A piston member 194 mounted in lower chamber 192 is adapted-to be moved upwardly to unseat ball valve 193 whenever hydraulic pressure is present in a conduit 195 which leads thereto from four-Way valve 166, conduit 195 having a common communication with the four-way valve with the conduit 17 0 leading therefrom to the upper end of the hydraulic packer plate return cylinder 160.

The conduit 163 which leads to theintake side of the aforementioned hydraulic pressure pump is in open communication with the bottom of reservoir and a further conduit 197 from the bottom of reservoir 165 leads to another of the ports of the four-way valve 166. One of the outlet ports of valve 166 is connected to the upper chamber 191 of bypass valve 190 by a conduit 200 and a continuation conduit 201 from chamber 191 leads to the telescopic cylinder assembly 55.

When four-way valve- 166 is in its normal neutral position the ports thereof connecting with the conduits 162 and 197 are in communication and the other ports of the valve are blocked. Consequently output from the pump, if it is in operation,*is bypassed to reservoir 165'and the otheroutlet ports of valve 166 are blocked.

Movement of four-way valve 166 to its operating position is effected manually by either of a pair of control rods 203 which lead to opposite sides of body 20 at the front end thereof. For simplicity this control linkage has been omitted from FIG. 1. The control rods 203 are supported by guides 204 at'the front of body 20 and are pivotally connected at'their inner ends to the lower end of one arm of a'bell crank 205 which is pivoted to a bracket 206 carried by the one of the verticalangle members 155. The other arm of bell crank 205connects pivotally with the upperend of the valve shifting link 168.

When one of the control rods 203 is pulled or pushed to rock bell crank 205 so as to lower the link 168 and valve shifting bar 167,.the valve inlet port connecting with pressure conduit 162 is connected with the port leading. to conduit 200,- thence through the upper chamber 191 of bypass .valve 190 and through conduit 201 to the up.- per end of telescopic hydraulic cylinder and piston means 55. At this time ball 193 is seated and heldseated by the pressure in chamber 191, thus the cylinder and piston assembly 55 expands and moves the packer plate 32 forcibly rearwardly in body 20.

Assuming rear door 30 to be closed and latched, refuse will thus be compacted until a predetermined limit pressure is reached, whereupon an internal relief valve in four-way valve 166 opens and bypasses further How of 9 fluid from conduit 162 to bypass conduit 197. In the present instance and with the valve above specified, this relief valve operation will take place at 1100 pounds per square inch pressure.

Similar relief valve operation will take place if there is no refuse in the body and the packer plate moves rearwardly against the rear door 30. If rear door 30 is open during the foregoing rearward movement of packer plate 32, the contents of the body will be ejected through the open rear end of the body.

Continuation of rearward movement of the packer plate as aforesaid requires that the particular control rod 203 be held in operating position since if manual pressure is removed the neutral bias of valve 166 will automatically restore valve shifting bar 167 and the connected linkage to neutral position with the pump output bypassed to reservoir 165.

To return the packer plate 32 to a forward position either of the control rods 203 is operated in an opposite direction to rock bell crank 205 and thus raise the valve shifting bar 167 and in this position the valve connects the inlet valve port of pressure conduit 162 to the port which jointly supplies conduits 170 and 195 and simultaneously blocks the port which leads to conduit 200. Thus operating hydraulic fluid pressure is applied to the top of return cylinder 160 to move the piston rod 171 downwardly and thus withdraw the packer plate to the front of the body by operation of the differential pulley and chain arrangement previously described.

At the same time hydraulic fluid pressure is applied beneath piston 194 of the bypass valve 190 through conduit 195 which lifts ball valve 193 from its seat so that hydraulic fluid forced from the telescopic cylinder assembly 55 by this return movement of the packer plate flows through conduit 201 and the chambers 191 and 192 of bypass valve 190 to reservoir 165 where it returns by gravity to the intake side of the pump through conduit 163 as needed.

A relatively small capacity conduit 207 connects from the upper end of return cylinder 160 to the reservoir 165 to permit a regulated amount of fluid from the conduit 170 when the same is under pressure to bleed back to the reservoir. This regulates the speed with which the packer plate is returned and also reduces the operating pressure applied to the relatively small return cylinder 160.

The rear door cylinders 63 are powered by pressure from a conduit 209 which is in open communication with pressure conduit 162 as at 210 and leads to a manual valve 212 and from valve 212 through conduit means 213 to the two rear door cylinders.

Valve 212 is normally held closed by a coil spring 215 and is adapted to be manually opened by means of a handle 216 preferably disposed at the front of body 20 near one of the packer plate control rods 203. Thus the rear door cylinders 63 may be powered for door opening movement by manual operation of handle 216 whenever packing plate 32 is being operated by either telescopic cylinder assembly 55 or return cylinder 160.

When the four-way valve 166 is in neutral position and fluid is merely being bypassed thereby pressure in conduit 162 will be insuflicient to maintain the door in a raised position and accordingly if manual valve 212 is held open during such period the door will gravitate to closed position at a moderate speed, expelling its hydraulic fluid back through conduits 213 and 209 to conduit 162.

Of course if valve 212 is closed while the door is in a raised position by release of handle 216 the fluid column between valve 212 and the pistons of the door cylinders 63 will maintain the door in raised position.

We claim:

1. In a refuse compacting and transporting vehicle including a pair of laterally spaced longitudinally extending chassis frame members, a generally cylindrical horizontally extending body shell, a pair of laterally spaced longitudinally extending reinforcing members fixed to the undersides of said shell in alignment with said frame members for attachment thereto, said longitudinally extending reinforcing members seating upon said frame members continuously throughout the length of said body shell, a side door opening in said shell and a door member for closing at least the lower portion of said side door opening, means guiding said door member for arcuate movement along the arcuate side wall of said body shell, means for selectively adjusting the position of movement of said door member to define the effective lower edge of said door opening, said door member having a horizontally extending hinge medially thereof, the lower portion of said guiding means being spaced laterally outwardly from said longitudinal reinforcing members whereby the door portion below said hinge is adapted to move away from said body shell outside of and adjacent to said longitudinally extending reinforcing members as the door member moves downwardly to permit full door opening movement without interfering with the continuity of engagement between said reinforcing members and said frame members.

2. In a refuse compacting and transporting vehicle including a pair of laterally spaced longitudinally extending chassis frame members, a generally cylindrical horizontally extending body shell seated upon said frame members continuously throughout the length of said body shell, a side door opening in said shell and a door member for closing at least the lower portion of said side door opening, means guiding said door member for arcuate movement along the arcuate side wall of said body shell, said door member comprising upper and lower articulated portions, the lower portion of said guiding means being spaced laterally outwardly from said chassis frame members whereby the lower portion is adapted to move away from said body shell at the outer side of said chassis frame members as the door member moves downwardly to permit full door opening movement without interfering with the continuity of seating engagement between said body shell and said frame members.

3. In a refuse compacting vehicle body a longitudinally extending body shell having generally cylindrical side walls, a pair of axially spaced ring members extending radially outwardly beyond said side walls and defining a side door opening therebetween for introducing refuse material, arcuately extending door means adapted to lie generally between said rings for closing said opening, said door means being connected at its upper end with the upper portion of said body shell for pivotal movement about a horizontal longitudinal axis and for relative movement generally along said axis whereby said door member may be moved pivotally outwardly to clear said reinforcing rings and thence longitudinally along said body shell to uncover said side door opening.

4. In a refuse compacting vehicle body a longitudinally extending body shell having convex side walls, a pair of ring members spaced lengthwise along said body to define a side door opening therein for introducing refuse material, door means adapted to lie generally between said ring members for closing said opening, a track along the top of said body shell, the upper end of said door having engagement with said track for longitudinal movement therealong, said engagement including a pivotal connection whereby said door member may be moved pivotally outwardly to clear said ring members and thence longitudinally along said body shell to uncover said side door opening.

5. In a refuse compacting vehicle body, a longitudinally extending body shell having generally arcuate side walls, a side door opening therein for introducing refuse material, a door member for closing at least the lower portion of said side door opening, and means mounting said door member for arcuate movement along one of 1 1 the arcuate side walls of said body shell, means for se lectively adjusting the position of said door member to establish the upper end thereof at a predetermined elevation to define the effective lower edge of said door opening, step means carried by said body and positionally ad- 5 justable in an upward and outward path of movement generally paralleling said arcuate body side wall, and means for selectively locking said step means in varying positions of adjustment, whereby the step means is positionally disposed at a convenient position beneath the aforesaid lower edge of the door opening as to. both height and lateral disposition in various positions of adjustment of the door member.

0 facturing Co. (cover page only), July 2, 1954.

BENJAMIN HERSH, Primary Examiner.

A. HARRY LEVY, Examiner. 

4. IN A REFUSE COMPACTING VEHICLE BODY A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING BODY SHELL HAVING A CONVEX SIDE WALLS, A PAIR OF RING MEMBERS SPACED LENGTHWISE ALONG SAID BODY TO DEFINE A SIDE DOOR OPENING THEREIN FOR INTRODUCING REFUSE MATERIAL, DOOR MEANS ADAPTED TO LIE GENERALLY BETWEEN SAID RING MEMBERS FOR CLOSING SAID OPENING, A TRACK ALONG THE TOP OF SAID BODY SHELL, THE UPPER END OF SAID DOOR HAVING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID TRACK FOR LONGITUDINAL MOVEMENT THEREALONG, SAID ENGAGEMENT INCLUDING A PIVOTAL CONNECTION WHEREBY SAID DOOR MEMBER MAY BE MOVED PIVOTALLY OUTWARDLY TO CLEAR SDAID RING MEMBERS AND THENCE LONGITUDINALLY ALONG SAID BODY SHELL TO UNCOVER SAID SIDE DOOR OPENING. 